All Articles Why Thanksgiving week is the best time to book a solo trip

Why Thanksgiving week is the best time to book a solo trip

Find a different kind of gratitude during the busiest travel week of the year.

By Rachel Chang17 Nov 2022 4 minutes read
Tourist at the Ben Youssef Madrasa courtyard, Marrakesh, Morocco
Ben Youssef Madrasa courtyard in Marrakesh, Morocco
Image: Nick Kee Son/Getty Images

The hum of simmering pots echoed through the beige-tiled kitchen, as the scents of carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and turkey wafted through the air. It was Thanksgiving Day, and there was an extra dose of appreciation that our entire group could be standing around the massive wooden table, sharing the experience of making a meal.

However, this was anything but a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. The food was cooking under conical lids, the oversized kitchen was dominated by a rainbow array of pungent spices, the people surrounding me were total strangers five days prior, and I was more than 3,700 miles from home at La Rose du Sable in Aït Benhaddou, Morocco.

I was in the middle of an eight-day tour through the country, beginning in Casablanca and ending in Marrakech, and today, a turkey tagine cooking lesson was on the agenda. As we sat down to eat the fragrant dishes we had just learned to make, I realized I didn’t even miss the sweet potatoes or stuffing. There was something powerful about being so far from anyone and anything familiar on a day we’re meant to gather with our closest loved ones, instead creating an intangible bond with a group that had come from all over the world.

Flipping the formula on Thanksgiving travel started out as a matter of practicality for me back in 2014. With Americans getting so few vacation days, I strategized: I could take the Monday through Wednesday before the holiday off, and end up with nine straight vacation days for the price of three. While poking around for flights, however, I found that no matter the combo of dates I chose within those nine days, I’d face massively marked up prices to get anywhere in the U.S. It sparked visions of frustratingly long security lines and seemingly endless delays, especially on the Wednesday before and Sunday after the holiday.

Then, inspiration struck. What if instead of joining the throngs of travelers crisscrossing the country for a turkey meal, I did exactly the opposite: go on my own to a faraway place, where I didn’t know anyone? After all, in most other places around the world, it was a regular working week and I’d be able to experience the destination at a time with fewer Americans around.

So I booked my first-ever true solo trip, a six-day guided tour to the Galapagos Islands. Tacking on a few days in Quito to round out the adventure, I was set to fulfill my childhood dream of visiting the Ecuadorian islands.

Diver Viewing Green Sea Turtle, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image: Michele Westmorland/Getty Images

Anticipating anxiety about feeling alone on the holiday, I searched for expat groups hosting American Thanksgiving dinners and signed up for one at a hostel, so that I could at least have some semblance of a being around a homey holiday table. For good measure, I also followed a friend’s suggestion to pack a bag of dried cranberries to bring along the familiar flavors from the Thanksgiving table.

But things quickly went off track as my flight was delayed and my suitcase (including those cranberries) didn’t arrive. Panicked and stressed in a country where I didn’t speak the language, I worried it might be a sign that I never should have come on this trip.

Then I stopped myself. That was exactly the kind of logistical frustration typical of heading home for the holidays that I was trying to avoid with this trip. Here I was, in a country where I had no obligations or responsibilities and all that lay ahead of me were possibilities. Instead of seeing every hiccup as a roadblock, I decided to shift my perspective and see them as opportunities to re-center and think about what was really important—taking in each moment, and discovering new sides of myself while I experienced a destination I’d dreamed of for so long. And that’s when I started to let go.

By the time Thanksgiving Day rolled around, I had swum with penguins, basked in the sun alongside iguanas, spotted blue-footed boobies—and been reunited with my suitcase. By dinnertime, I realized I wasn’t as set on being around other Americans and turkey. Instead, I skipped out on the hostel meal and treated myself to dinner at one of Quito’s finest restaurants, Zazu, relishing in a delightful solo feast and the power of one.

Hiker crouching to look out over Grey Lake and Glacier in Torres del Paine national park, Chile
Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
Image: Chile Manuel Sulzer/Getty Images

That kicked off a tradition of countering Thanksgiving expectations and leaving the country that week every year since. The next year was the trip to Morocco, where I found a new set of travel buddies. The following year, one of those new friends and I headed to Portugal and the Azores during Thanksgiving week. The following November, I went to Patagonia on my own, embarking on a solo nine-hour, 14-mile hike. Along the way, I found myself in a position to help a woman whose mother had fallen in the woods and lost her memory. The next day, the daughter sent me a message that read: “Today is Thanksgiving and this year, we’re thankful for you.”

Sitting alone in my hotel room and seeing those words made it clear to me: the love we share on Thanksgiving doesn’t have to follow any rules or limitations. In fact, it was by defying expectations about what the holiday should look like, and embracing being solo rather than with my existing circle of loved ones that I was able to discover a different kind of gratefulness: one for fresh adventures and experiences, new traditions, broadened perspectives—and kinship with undiscovered elements of myself.

The solo traveller's playbook

Tips, trip ideas, and essential info for getting out there on your own
Read more
Rachel Chang
Travel and pop culture journalist Rachel Chang started her editorial career nearly two decades ago chasing celebrities as a magazine editor (Us Weekly, J-14, CosmoGIRL!). Along the way, she also started chasing passport stamps and is now a freelance journalist and editor, contributing regularly to Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure and editing Most Amazing Places magazines for Centennial Media. She has also written for Lonely Planet, Washington Post, New York Times for Kids, Wall Street Journal, and Airbnb Magazine.